Born Free responds to new Bovine TB Strategy for England

(c) Richard Hurrell

Born Free is welcoming elements of the Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) Strategy for England, published today by the government’s Bovine TB Partnership Steering Group. However, we remain concerned that the continued focus on wildlife risks sending out the wrong signals and undermining efforts to control the disease.

Following the recent cancellation of the last badger culling licence in England, the new strategy has an increased emphasis on cattle-to-cattle transmission as the primary driver of bTB spread among cattle, and also contains proposed improvements in cattle-based measures. These include long-overdue action to introduce cattle vaccination, and efforts to identify hidden infection within herds resulting from the limitations of current testing methods.

Dr Mark Jones, Head of Policy at Born Free, said: “After over a decade of badger culling, which has devastated badger populations with no clear evidence of any disease control benefit, we are pleased to finally see the shift in emphasis towards cattle-to-cattle transmission being the main driver of bovine TB spread, and the need to focus on cattle-based measures if the disease is to be brought under control. We are particularly pleased to see the emphasis on introducing cattle vaccination, which successive governments have dragged their feet on for far too long, and on improving detection of hidden infection in herds.”

However, Born Free has serious concerns about the strategy’s continued focus on wildlife, particularly badgers. Despite acknowledging that most infections occur between cattle, the strategy still frames badgers as a disease risk and leaves open the possibility of lethal control in “exceptional circumstances”.

There is a risk this could create a loophole for continued culling and perpetuate longstanding misconceptions about wildlife’s role in bTB transmission. It also highlights the lack of wildlife and epidemiological expertise in key decision-making bodies and criticises insufficient evidence supporting badger vaccination as a disease control tool.

Dr Jones continued: “By incorporating the expansion of badger vaccination, the strategy continues to send a message to farmers and their vets that badgers are a problem that needs to be addressed, despite the lack of evidence that badger vaccination will significantly reduce the spread of bovine TB among cattle. That messaging could lead to calls for a return to culling should badger vaccination prove to be too logistically difficult, or too expensive, to roll out at scale.”

Further concerns include expanded wildlife surveillance, potential future interventions involving deer, and the absence of mandatory environmental impact assessments.

Born Free has consistently called for a permanent end to badger culling, a clear policy shift away from wildlife interventions, greater transparency, and a much stronger focus on cattle testing, biosecurity and movement controls.

Rebuilding trust with farmers, following the killing of over a quarter of a million badgers with no clear evidence of any disease control benefits, will require government-led efforts to correct years of misleading messaging about the role of wildlife in the spread of bovine TB.

Time will tell whether the government has the spine to tackle bTB in cattle effectively, or whether it will bow to industry pressure and maintain a misguided and hugely damaging focus on wildlife.